Synchronously-operated reproducing apparatus.



L. LANGNER. SYNCHRONOUSLY OPERAIED REPRODUCING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. ll, I913.

Patented Aug. 27, 1918 Witnesses;

m: NORRIS PETERS m.v mmmunwu WASHINCTDN. u, c.

' To all whom it mayconocrn:

- eration of' two or more reproducing ma- 7 chines, such as a talking machine and a UNITED PATENT LAWRENCE LANGNER, or LONDON, ENGLAND, Assrenon TO AEOLIAN COMPANY, 0E

NEW YORK, N. Y.,. ACORPORATION; OF CONNECTICUT.

. SYNCHRQNOUSLY-OPERATED REPRODUCING. APPARATUS.

Be it known that I LAWRENCE a" sub ectof the Kmg'of Great Br tain, residing at London,-1n the connty'of London,

I Ei'rgland', and" Kingdom of Great Britain, have invented an Improvement in Synchronously-Operated Reproducing Apparatus, of which the foll'owi'ngis a specification.

This'inventilon relates to. means forsecurmg and maintaining synchronism in the op player piano. I

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure shows my invention applied to an electrically operated player piano and disk talking machine.

Fig. 2 sho s portlons' of the talking machine and associated parts to a larger scale,v

and y v Fig. 3 illustrates one form of the invention applied to a cylinder record talking machine. I

My invention is hereinafter described as embodied in means for maintaining synchro nism in the playing of a talking machine and a player piano of the kind in which the playing of the piano is controlled by means of a music sheet of metal or paper which is fed over a tracker or contact device, this tracker or contact device being contained in a cabinet connected electrically or otherwise with the piano.

Referring to Fi 1, 1 is a cabinet containing an electric p ayer piano controlled in well known manner by the metal music sheet 2 passing over the contact or tracker 3 contained in the cabinet a and connected electrically with mechanism of the piano in the cabinet 1, to control the playing thereof, as herein shown by the cable 5. Associated with the record support 6 of the talking machine, I provide a feed drum or roller 7 driven at the same speed as the aforesaid record support 6, or at a determined speed ratio relative thereto as hereinafter de- Scribed.

The clockwork motor 8 of the talking machine, shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1, can

sp ifi n me sr m. Patented. au izmioisi Application filed April 11, 1913. Seria1'No.760,490.

o i Clutches 12 and 13 are. prov'idedto connect LANGNER,

either-the clockwork motor 8 or the music roll 10 with the drivingshaft of said electric motor 9;. f i

The horn of. thetalking machine is preferably built into the cabinet in well'known manner, forming a sound chamber which is providedwith a number ofslats 141 in the front thereof. Beneath this chamber there I may be advantageously provideda number of compartments 15 for holding the talking machine records, while below these compart ments may be provided pigeon holes 16 for the music rolls. 1

It will. be obvious that thefcabinet'f de- 7 scribed above can be used either for playing the talking machine alone, or for playing the piano alone, or for s multaneously .play- "ing the'talking machine and the piano, In

the latter case, owing to thefact" that the clockwork motor simultaneously drives the talking machine record and the music sheet,

the two instruments will always play in synchronism. I

As the peripheral speed of the record support 6 is relatively high, meansare preferably provided to drive the drum or roller 7 at a determined and slower speed relative to the speed of rotationof the record support, and one embodiment of such means is illustrated in Fig.2. p The record support is formed with internal teeth 17 and these teeth can be engaged by a pinion 18 supported upon an arm 19. extending from the stationary sleeve 20,

through which sleeve extends the driving shaft 21 of the record support. The shaft 22 of the pinion 18 extends through an elongated slot 23 in the arm 19, and supports at its lower end a smaller pinion 24: adapted to engage with the internal teeth 25 of the drum 7. A slide engages with said shaft 22 as shown, and by operating said slide to engage the pinion 18 with the teeth 17, the drum 8 will be driven by the clockwork motor through said pinions 18 and 24, and the speed ratio will be determined by the relative sizes of said pinions. On pushing in the slide 26 the roller 8 will be disengaged I the drum 7 to engage in perforations 28 in the music sheet, to prevent slipping of said sheet and to guide it properly.

In the application of my invention to a cylinder talking machine or phonograph, as shown in Fig. 3, I provide a cylindrical extension 80 to the record support 31, and this extension serves as a means for feedingthe music sheet 2 over the tracker device (not shown) in a manner similar to the drum 7 of Fig. 2. By making the extension 30 of smaller diameter than the record support 31, I avoid the necessity for providing means such as are shown in Fig. 2 for driving the extension 30 at a difierent speed to the speed of rotation of the record support 31.

lVhile I have described my invention with reference to the synchronous operation of a talking machine and a musical instrument, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, that it canbe applied to any kind of reproducing machine, such as a moving picture machine and a talking machine.

By the term player piano used in the claims which follow, I mean the musical instrument contained in the cabinet 1, herein described and illustrated.

IVhile the tracker device is here shown only diagrammatically, those skilled in the art are well aware of the types of tracker devices customarily employed inelectricall controlled player-pianos of the kind in Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner Washington, D. 6.

which the playing of the piano is controlled from .a cabinet locatedat a distance from the piano. 1

What I claim is 1. In combination, a talking machine including a' record-supporting means and a motor for driving said means, a player piano, and means mechanically connected with and driven through said record-supporting means for supporting a music sheet which controls the playing of the player piano.

2. In combination, a cabinet, a talking machine in said cabinet, a spring motor for driving said talking machine, music sheet feeding means in said cabinet, and an electric motor for operating said feeding means in one direction and for winding said spring motor.

3. In combination, a talking machine having clockwork driving means, means for winding said clockwork driving means, an automatically operated musical instrument including means for feeding a music sheet, and means for simultaneously driving said music sheet feeding means in one direction, and said clockwork winding means.

Dated this 25th day of March, 1913.

LAWRENCE LANGNER.

Witnesses:

O. J. WORTH, H. D. JAMnsoN.

of Patents, 

